Privateers Baseball Holds Off Northwestern State, Advances in SLC Tourney

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SUGAR LAND, Texas – The University of New Orleans baseball team (31-25) took advantage of four errors by the Northwestern State Demons (33-24) and got a huge performance from Jordan Priddle in a 6-5 victory on Thursday morning at the Southland Tournament. The win marks the first postseason triumph for UNO since 2008.
 
The Privateers again were faced with a tough situation in the ninth. With Daniel Martinez on the bump, the Demons got two runners on. Cort Brinson was hit by a pitch and sacrificed to second. Spencer Goodwin then singled to put runners on the corners. Martinez bounced back though to get a ground ball which turned into a 4-6-3 double play to preserve the victory.
 
The win went to Jordan Priddle after he pitched a strong game out of the pen. Priddle came in with no outs in the second and proceeded to eat up 5.2 innings while shutting out the Demons. Priddle allowed five hits and struck out five while throwing 85 pitches.
 
"Jordan did a great job," said Coach Blake Dean. "Semple and (Hunter) Medine didn't have their best stuff and I wasn't going to leave anybody out there for an extended period of time. It was phenomenal and he stepped up as a senior after not having a good outing the last time out."
 
Both teams put up four runs each in the first inning taking advantage of different types of miscues. Northwestern State drew two walks off of starter, Shawn Semple who was pulled with two outs in the first. The big hit came when Daniel Garner cranked a two-run homer which followed an RBI sac fly by David Fry and an RBI single by Regan Kaufman.
 
The Privateers came back with four of their own in the bottom of the first, taking advantage of three Demons errors. Aaron Palmer and Samuel Capielano set the stage with a single and a walk respectively. Hezekiah Randolph then singled and an ensuing error scored the first run. After an RBI ground out by Kyle Bracey, the Privateers got an RBI base hit by Chase Caldarera. The tying run came in on the first of two errors committed by Kaufman.
 
"The same thing happened for us yesterday," said Dean. "When you make four errors and walk guys it's difficult to win ball games in the postseason. You have to play clean baseball and today we capitalized and took advantage of the mistakes."
 
Northwestern State grabbed the lead back in the second on an RBI single by Cort Brinson. After that, Priddle set sail and retired the next two batters. He also caught Goodwin on the base paths with a pick-off move in the seventh. Two batters later, Jarred Taylor came in and got a ground ball to get out of the inning.
 
Taylor came back for the eighth and got the first two before walking the Southland's leading base stealer, Nick Heath. After a mound visit, the Privateers caught Heath trying to steal second to carry the lead into the ninth.
 
"We knew Heath was going to steal," said Dean. "I sent Lee (Bryant) out there and told them you have to be as quick as you can to the plate. We're going to throw a fastball away and try to throw him out. We were quick to the plate and Bracey put it on the money and that was a huge out."
 
The Privateers were without Chaz Boyer who has been dealing with an oblique injury and was unable to play. Jay Robinson moved to center and Randolph got his first start in the field, playing in right. He went 1-for-4 at the plate with a run scored, but his defense on the day was of a greater note on the day.
 
 "He did a good job," said Dean. "I thought there was one ball he misplayed a little, but he kept it in front of him. He did a good job on a ball in front of him holding a runner at second and he stepped up for us in the field."
 
The Privateers played a clean game in the field, committing no errors. Offensively, Palmer collected two hits in five at-bats. Preston Marsh scored twice and Caldarera went 1-for-3 with an RBI. In his four plate appearances, Caldarera saw 23 pitches.
 
Chase Hymel took the loss for Northwestern State as he allowed six runs (two earned) on six hits and four walks in 3.2 innings. Nathan Jones came in and was tough to hit throughout, allowing only one hit in 4.1 innings. Goodwin and Garner had two hits each for a Demons squad that had eight total hits.
 
UNO will play the loser of Southeastern and McNeese on Friday at 9 a.m.
 
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